Chungking Express (1994)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Cynthia S

  
  Fast paced cinematography adds a lot of rather good visuals to this movie. This film is a two parter. The first story ends abruptly, and without a clear resolution, and I can't say that cared for that one much. The second story, however, works a little better. Rather interesting,… More
  Fast paced cinematography adds a lot of rather good visuals to this movie. This film is a two parter. The first story ends abruptly, and without a clear resolution, and I can't say that cared for that one much. The second story, however, works a little better. Rather interesting, and quirky. This film was a little more "artsy" than I prefer.

• Jan Marc M

  
  Two police officers and two distinct, compelling, and peculiar stories of intimacy, The Chungking Express is a Kar-Wai Wong masterpiece that perfectly captured the Hong Kong night culture with inventive cinematography, exuberant music, and exceptional talent. Irresistible.

• Lady D

  
  This wasn't an instant hit with me, it plodded along slowly and seemed to have little structure in storyline, however it does begin to grow on you as the characters develop and the plot thickens. The photography style also gives the film a very modern look.

• Bob O

  
  Wong Kar Wai broke all kinds of cinematic molds with this Hong Kong black comedy about drug mules, expired pineapple cans, brief loves and twisted obsessions. Wong's frenetic stylistics and ostentatious use of music highlight Chungking Express, an international filmic pioneer.

• Sarah G

  
  Simply amazing! I loved every minute of this film. The whole storyline seemed familar, though, at times. I feel that is because Hollywood has used this type of film structure in many films that I have seen. I enjoyed the storyline, two lonely cops both connected by a Honk Kong… More
  Simply amazing! I loved every minute of this film. The whole storyline seemed familar, though, at times. I feel that is because Hollywood has used this type of film structure in many films that I have seen. I enjoyed the storyline, two lonely cops both connected by a Honk Kong snack bar- just brilliant. Although I have to say the second part of the film was a lot better than the first and was the heart of the film for me. Once again the cinematography was amazing and I've noticed re-accuring themes such as; love and connections in Wong's films. I'm certainly going to watch more of his films, as I've loved all that i've watched so far. I wish we saw more original films in Hollywood today and why can't they all be as beautiful like this? Some brilliant performances from Tony leung and faye Wong, which for me made the film what it is. Again, I'll be watching more og Leung's films as he is becoming one of my favourite actors. Really, everybody should watch this film. I can't recomend this enough!

• Reid V

  
  A fantastic and beautiful movie about loneliness in a big city. This film is split up into two stories about heartache. I would love to see this movie get released in the United States. It takes patience and while not giving anything away, you find the heartfelt but quirky ways that… More
  A fantastic and beautiful movie about loneliness in a big city. This film is split up into two stories about heartache. I would love to see this movie get released in the United States. It takes patience and while not giving anything away, you find the heartfelt but quirky ways that people deal with loneliness.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years..."</i> Two stories, two lovelorn cops, two objects of desire: one a big-time heroin dealer in deep trouble with her boss after the cargo disappears, the other a seriously flaky take-out… More
  <i>"If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years..."</i> Two stories, two lovelorn cops, two objects of desire: one a big-time heroin dealer in deep trouble with her boss after the cargo disappears, the other a seriously flaky take-out waitress who inadvertently gets hold of the keys to her admirer's apartment, all shot in a breathless kaleidoscope of color and hand-held camera work to create a mesmerizing portrait of Hong Kong in the 1990s. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> I finally got a chance to finish this movie and I have to say that I love it. It's a very expressionistic piece with a lot of attention to film details, such as editing, framing, camera-work, etc. that makes film geeks like me gush with enthusiasm. There's a buoyancy and an energy to almost every second of the film that makes the budget production quality seem like an enhancement rather than a problem--it's as though this film could only be made on a limited budget, using a hand-held camera, cheaper filmstock and so forth. First of all, this film is not about story or even characters in the traditional story sense, although there is a little character development, it's more about communicating the experience of the characters to the audience in a way that incorporates the entirety of the film. In that way, it reminds me of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. However, this film is a bit more centered on the characters' experience of getting over heartbreak and attempts to find new love amidst the heartbreak. The acting in the film is just fine, although I'd have to give the upper hand to the second half of the film's duo over the first. However, despite the solid acting overall, this film is really a director's film. Some of the tricks that director Wong Kar Wai pulls are just so perfect in capturing mood and emotion. The writing is a little unspectacular, but then again, the use of voice-over and the simplistic nature of the dialogue all help drive the experiential effect of the film. There are weaknesses in the film, like the story and the occasional moments where my suspension of disbelief is tested, but these are minor details, since the film's emotional and experiential power had me feeling quite effervescent at the end of the film. I loved it.

• William D

  
  The stylish but superficial Wong Kar Wai is the most over-rated filmmaker in Asia. He is Asia's answer to the clever but shallow Coen Brothers. With 1994's "Chungking Express," Mr. Wong bores us to tears by playing the song "California Dreamin" by the… More
  The stylish but superficial Wong Kar Wai is the most over-rated filmmaker in Asia. He is Asia's answer to the clever but shallow Coen Brothers. With 1994's "Chungking Express," Mr. Wong bores us to tears by playing the song "California Dreamin" by the Mamas and the Papas about a dozen times. Hearing the same song over and over is like Chinese water torture. Mr. Wong's screenplay is another form of torture. We meet four characters who have as much going on in their heads as the goldfish in the main character's aquarium. These human goldfish swim through life blithely and aimlessly, looking for the next scrap of mild pleasure to amuse themselves. To them, relationships are mild trifles to be enjoyed before one moves onto something else. So we just watch them flit along vacuously. Yet Mr. Wong is not presenting this view of the world in a critical way. He intends his audience to have the same kind of mild pleasure as the characters on the screen do. He brings a sophisticated style of cinematography to the table, but his stories are even more shallow than the average TV sitcom. Why, oh why, does this filmmaker/goldfish continue to get great reviews around the world?

• Anthony L

  
  Wong Kar Wai's influences from the French 'New wave' are clear but he definitely brings his own style and flare to this beautiful and unconventional film

• danny d

  
  an innovative and captivating drama of heart break told as two short films that are loosely connected by coincidental circumstances. wong's characters are engaging and most of the dialogue was well done. unfortunately, the short story of the two featured that i most enjoyed was… More
  an innovative and captivating drama of heart break told as two short films that are loosely connected by coincidental circumstances. wong's characters are engaging and most of the dialogue was well done. unfortunately, the short story of the two featured that i most enjoyed was not fleshed out well enough and was the shorter of the two. the second story, which was also good but not as much so, was given most of the screen time and was fleshed out well. had the first story been given twenty or so more minutes this film could have reached masterpiece status for me, but even as it is i loved watching it and i highly recommend it.

• Sanjaya &

  
  Actually, I didn't get the story pretty well... I don't know that the main character is Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro... And I don't know this movie has two story... Even that, I enjoyed watching this movie... It was not bad, just a little weird... If in this movie… More
  Actually, I didn't get the story pretty well... I don't know that the main character is Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro... And I don't know this movie has two story... Even that, I enjoyed watching this movie... It was not bad, just a little weird... If in this movie Tony Leung Chi Wai not famous yet, then I think he should be famous after this movie because he played pretty well such in his young age... And Faye Wong, she's great too... Funny and a little wild I think... A pretty good one from Wong Kar Wai...

• Emily A

  
  This movie is very disjointed and apparently without any sense of unity, but watching it you come to see the strange internal logic that drives the characters' individual stories. Gorgeously shot and masterfully acted, this film makes one man's consumption of a month's… More
  This movie is very disjointed and apparently without any sense of unity, but watching it you come to see the strange internal logic that drives the characters' individual stories. Gorgeously shot and masterfully acted, this film makes one man's consumption of a month's worth of expired pineapple into a truly epic emotional endeavor. I wish I could explain it better. You just have to see it happen to understand.

• Dean M

  
  I like the second story from two disconnected stories in this film about a counter girl, who has a crush on a policeman, is subtly redecorating his apartment when he's not there.

• Lanning :

  
  <b>Chung hing sam lam</b><p>A beautiful lyric set of short stories. I am not sure the connection between the two is all that "loose." First, they are tied together by location--the onolicious Chungking Express--, and the principal male figures in each… More
  <b>Chung hing sam lam</b><p>A beautiful lyric set of short stories. I am not sure the connection between the two is all that "loose." First, they are tied together by location--the onolicious Chungking Express--, and the principal male figures in each story work in law enforcement. Both have lost their girlfriends, and both embark on new love pursuits. All four principals, including the two women, exhibit signs of damage, the two men hurting from lost love, Lin somehow caught up, perhaps against her will, in a genuine life and death struggle for survival, and Wang having something in her history that drives her to escape in a Califonia dream. Both women also exhibit a kind of obsession. With Lin it is her work, which she is obviously well versed in, and her seeming frequent need to kill or be killed. With Wang, it is both her California dream and her fascinating drive to make over, in secret as best as she can manage, Chiu-Wai's apartment. <p> Please stop me before I compare and/or contrast again.<p>While the first love story does not appear to come to fruition, the second ends on a wonderfully upbeat (re)union of the two, topped off by Chiu-Wai's actually giving up his job and buying the Chungking Express, the locus of desire, and, happily, even ironically, redoing it, just as his own apartment was redone. <p> If I'd had input on the script, I would have made one structural suggestion. The "other May," the one who works at the Express, would have filled out either a center love story segment, or perhaps the last segment. We would have a love story completely from a woman's point of view. For balance it would seem appropriate that this story would fill the center portion of the movie, with the men's stories framing hers. But for a real capper of a love story, I'd have hers be the final story. The previous owner of the Express, the one who is always trying to set up this May with his customers, would turn out, in the end, to be the object of May's desire, and at this bar where he is the new owner--having sold the Express to Chiu-Wai--May would enter, lay her cards on the table, and finally hook up with this gentleman who always thought highly enough of May that she would make a good love match for his customers, but never realized that May was a good love match for him as well. That would be a very cool ending, for my tastes.

• Fascade F

  
  Crazy...confusing..insane...and at times...memorable...but then again...the pursuit of love is always like that...in any language...Through any scope...love is a game of chase...and eventual surrender...IF you notice the signs....and you don't miss the love "express"...

• Hassan V

  
  I woke up the next morning after seeing this film with big, stargazing smile. The story at first may just seem sketched and brightly symbolic, but as I think about it more and more the stories are so rich with emotion, the film is a living thing with a throbbing heartbeat. But the… More
  I woke up the next morning after seeing this film with big, stargazing smile. The story at first may just seem sketched and brightly symbolic, but as I think about it more and more the stories are so rich with emotion, the film is a living thing with a throbbing heartbeat. But the story isn't the best thing about this film, the blood in the veins of the movie is the cinematography and direction. Not to sound pretentious, but this truly is one of those films that you can call poetic; every still of the film can be placed in an art gallery. Its weaving style was like Terrance Mallick on acid, so it has all his beauty but without the unrelenting slow pace. I would most definitely watch this film on a Sunday evening if you want to have a good week and I will also be watching it again pretty soon coz I saw know it will be more rewarding on my second watch. I will be seeking out more Kar Wai Wong films asap.

• Chris B

  
  Filled with symbolism and expertly shot, you feel like you are walking the streets or eating the food of the restaurant. You are in it.

• John M

  
  PR

• Quinto W

  
  Quirky Asian love stories, one with a femme fatale and the other with a manix pixie dream girl, are both charming and with interesting characters, but sometimes the cuteness of it all gets too in the way.

• Jonny C

  
  Creative romantic drama from acclaimed Chinese director Kar Wai Wong. It tells two love stories set in the same market place, with 2 brokenhearted policemen trying to move on. The first with the aid of tinned pineapples, and the other unknowingly with a screwball waitress. With odd… More
  Creative romantic drama from acclaimed Chinese director Kar Wai Wong. It tells two love stories set in the same market place, with 2 brokenhearted policemen trying to move on. The first with the aid of tinned pineapples, and the other unknowingly with a screwball waitress. With odd characters and unorthodox storytelling, Chungking Express won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely worth a look.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings